"Just open the door for us," Annani said. "I will speak with my sister."
The nurse nodded, pulled out her phone, and aimed it at the lock.
As the door hissed and started swinging out, Kian took up position next to Annani, while the brothers flanked the door.
Should she ask him to remain outside?
He would never agree, and if he did, he would insist that the brothers guard her while she was in the room with Navuh. It was better to have him there, but he needed to let her do all the talking.
"A favor?" She put her hand on his arm. "Please try not to interfere, not even your usual intimidating looming. I need to handle this on my own."
He looked like he wanted to argue, but something in her expression stopped him, and he nodded. "Ask him about the alert. I need to know what it's about."
The room beyond was small and utilitarian, the same as it was the last time she had visited her nemesis—a hospital bed, monitoring equipment, and a single chair. Navuh lay on the bed, his body still largely paralyzed from the injuries he had sustained, his wrist encircled by the control cuff that would shock him into submission if he tried anything.
And beside him, holding his hand, sat Areana.
"Annani." Her sister rose from her chair, releasing Navuh's hand. "What are you doing here? What's happened?"
"We will talk later." Annani kept her voice steady and her expression neutral. "Right now, I need to speak with Navuh alone."
Areana glanced at her mate, then back at Annani. A thousand questions swam in her eyes, but she did not voice any of them. She nodded, turned around, and slipped through the door.
It closed behind her with a soft click.
Annani stood motionless for a long moment, staring at the male on the bed. Navuh. The scourge of her existence. The architect of five thousand years of war and suffering. The monster who had stolen her truelove mate from his sandy grave and hidden him away like a trophy.
Then again, without him, she might not have any chance of ever finding Khiann. If Navuh had not considered Khiann an asset worth preserving for his own selfish reasons, he would not have noted the location where Khiann had been buried, and would not have dug him out and made sure that his body maintained the spark of life needed to one day be resurrected.
The Fates had used Navuh to save her mate.
He was watching her with those cold, calculating eyes, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"Annani," he said, his voice smooth and resonant. "What an unexpected pleasure. To what do I owe this late-evening visit?"
Annani walked slowly to the chair Areana had vacated and sat. She folded her hands in her lap, composed her features into a mask of calm, and met Navuh's gaze without flinching.
"The booby traps," she said. "Losham, your adopted son, triggered them a few hours ago, early morning island time."
6
NAVUH
Stunned by the news, Navuh kept his expression carefully neutral.
He wasn't surprised that Losham had taken control of the island or that he had breached the glass enclosure and triggered the booby trap. What surprised him was that Annani had somehow found out about it.
How could she possibly know?
If what she had said was true, the traps had been triggered mere hours ago on an island that hardly anyone knew about, with heavily restricted outgoing and incoming communication.
The clan must have a spy on the island. That was the only explanation.
But who could it be?
Lokan had probably been spying for the clan for years, but Navuh had suspected him and kept him away in China. His suspicions had been confirmed when Lokan had chosen to take the final step and desert with his lover, who, as it turned out,was an immortal and a clan member. The same one who had infiltrated the harem pretending to be human.
A brave female and a worthy mate for his son, but an enemy, nonetheless.
